Test of Brotherhood
by Allison Shorecoat
Summary: "Here we go again." Turning, Jack quickly silenced Pooh-Bear and Stretch with a stony glare, "do you think we could get through just one hour without the two of you bickering like an old married couple? What will it take to get the pair of you to stop fighting?"
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! How's it going?**

**So, I really have no idea where this story idea came from, sort of just popped into my head a few days ago and I couldn't get it out. This would be my first Matthew Reilly fanfiction, although I have been meaning to write one for while but none of them have gotten off the ground. **

**This is kind of a miniature adventure which takes place a little before Seven Ancient Wonders. That's all I really have to say about it in summary. **

**Please enjoy.  
**

**Congo, 17 September 2006, 1300 hours local time **

The team ran, fast and low, ignoring the damp rock which scraped across their backs and the water which dripped from the ceiling onto their helmets. Just ahead of them swooped a bird, a small falcon, illuminated by the light from the torches on the helmets of the running team.

At the front of the group, his eyes narrowed in concentration, was Jack West Jnr. Without pausing he led the team, which consisted of six members plus himself, through the long dark tunnel, feet occasionally splashing through puddles of water. Eventually the tunnel opened up into a large antechamber, allowing all of them to stand up straight, some groaning as they stretched out their sore backs.

'Well, I'm most certainly never doing that again!' one of the men grunted, looking pained.

'You're probably going to have to on the way out brother dear,' the single woman in the team quipped jokingly, 'kind of sucks to be tall right now doesn't it?'

In response the large man, Gunman, or as he was now being called, Big Ears, just pulled a face. The low journey had been uncomfortable for most of them, but for Big Ears, at six and a half feet tall, it had probably been downright painful. It had probably been equally as painful for the second tallest in their team, who was also over six feet. The team's sniper, once known as Archer, but now, having also been renamed, addressed by the team as Stretch, was also flexing out the muscles of his back.

Letting his team recover their breath in the higher roofed antechamber, Jack keyed his radio, 'Wizard, how's things up at ground level?'

'_All good up here Jack,' _came the reply, '_Where are you in the system?'_

Jack looked around at his surroundings, 'An antechamber of some kind. Looks like we have three possible exits, one in each wall. All have an inscription above them.'

There was a pause from the other end of the radio as Wizard thought. It had been Jack's idea to leave him up on the surface, along with Lily. The little girl in his care was only nine after all and she wasn't quite ready for missions out in the field yet. That had left Jack to lead the remaining team of six down into the tunnel system which ran underneath a large rainforest on the outskirts of the Congo. Their objective; retrieve a collection of stone tablets which Wizard needed for his research on the Golden Capstone. These stone tablets just so happened to be located in the middle of some underground maze. Just another small mission which led towards the completion of the major task.

Besides, Jack reasoned to himself, it was good practice for the rest of the team to get a taste of what trap systems were like, even if this place was yet to spring anything major at them.

'Okay Wizard, what you got for me?' Jack asked.

'_According to my notes it should be the tunnel on the third wall, the one to your right. But be careful Jack, it's either in this antechamber or the next one where the entrance to that sub-trap system I was telling you about is. Look out for any large holes in the floor.'_

'Large holes in the floor, got it. Talk to you later Max,' he signed off and turned to the rest of his team, who were all standing and ready to go again, 'it's this tunnel team. Come on.'

This next tunnel appeared just as low as the first one they had come through. At the back, Stretch groaned, sounding annoyed, 'great, another backbreaker.'

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a shorter, rounded man, Pooh-Bear, snapped, 'why can't you look at something positive for once Israeli?'

'You can't talk Arab, at least you don't have to bend in two to get through these things,' Stretch retorted at once.

Jack, who had previously been ignoring the pair, instead examining the tunnel with his torch to see if he could spot any traps, heard Fuzzy speak from beside him, in an exasperated tone, 'here we go again.'

Turning from the tunnel, Jack quickly silenced the two with a glare, 'do you think we could get through one hour without the two of you bickering like an old married couple?'

Silence met his words as Pooh and Stretch turned away from each other. The rest of the team appeared relieved as Jack directed Stretch to remain at the back, while Pooh-Bear moved to run toward the front of the team. But if Jack was going to be entirely honest, if the two of them wanted to argue them putting them a few meters from each other wasn't going to help.

The next run was just as low and backbreaking as the first one had been, but thankfully, the tunnel was much shorter. As per before, Jack ran at the front, with Zoe just behind him, closely followed by Pooh-Bear, Noddy, Fuzzy, Big Ears and Stretch bringing up the rear. Once again the tunnel opened out into a large stone chamber, this time with only one option for a door on the far wall, underneath a large stone inscription. The chamber was larger than the first one they had passed through, but very plain, save for the moss on the walls and floor and the tree roots which hung through the ceiling.

The floor of this chamber appeared to be constructed in a wide circular pattern, originating from a slightly lowered section, also cut into a perfect circle, and rimmed by stone, moss covered steps. The lowered section of floor appeared to be fully sealed. Clicking his tongue behind his teeth, Jack studied the rest of the floor, but upon seeing no large holes in the ground as Wizard had warned, he keyed his radio again.

'You know that entrance to the sub-trap system,' he started.

'_Yeah?_'

'I don't see it.'

There was a rustling of paper on the other end of the radio. Around Jack, the rest of the team was cautiously fanning out around the rest of the chamber, examining the stone walls and brushing away moss so the grey stone glittered wetly under the light of their torches. In the centre of the room, Fuzzy and Stretch had crouched beside the large circular indent, just by the stone steps. The indent was probably a good ten feet in diameter, plain save for a long crack which ran right the way across.

'What do you suppose this is?' Fuzzy called out the others.

While Jack stood off to the side, waiting for Wizards explanation, the rest of the team gathered around Fuzzy and Stretch, gazing down at the floor.

'Sacrificial alter?' Big Ears guessed, only to be whacked on the arm by Zoe, 'what?'

'Maybe it was a pool of some kind?' Pooh-Bear suggested as he walked around the outside.

'Far too shallow,' Noddy shook his head in disagreement, 'perhaps we should ask Wizard, he'd know?'

As Pooh-Bear looked up, about to call Jack over, he suddenly miss-stepped on the slippery, moss covered stone. With a startled grunt he fell forwards, crashing into Stretch and sending both of them sprawling down into the shallow indent. Roughly Stretch shoved Pooh away, rolling back across the flat stone to put some distance between them. The rest of the team had the look of a party who wanted to retreat into a bomb-shelter as Fuzzy stood and backed up a little.

Noddy was the one who spoke, in a low voice, 'well, this is something we're never going to hear the end of.'

Glowering at Pooh-Bear, Stretch stood, brushing slimy moss off his jacket sleeve as he did so, but before he could open his mouth to speak, there was a low rumble. The team looked around, confused, and Jack, previously oblivious to the commotion, put away his radio. The rumbling continued, until suddenly, directly underneath Pooh-Bear and Stretch's feet, the ground started opening along the long seam, like two giant stone doors. Then, before either could move out of the way, the floor underneath them was gone, and both went tumbling down into the dark, yawning abyss which lay below the stone slabs.

Darting over, Jack swore as he stared down at the deep pit. Standing uneasily by the edge, Noddy, Fuzzy, Big Ears and Zoe were all staring down as well; all looking very unsure about what just happened. Carefully, Zoe leaned forward, shining her torch down to reveal the sloping, smooth walls of a tunnel.

'Pooh, Stretch,' she called, 'are you okay?'

It took a few seconds of listening, but eventually the team got their reply, 'get your bony elbow out of my face Israeli.'

'I would but I can't move underneath your fat ass. Get off!'

'I'm trying, but it's a little dark down here.'

'Get your hand out of my face.'

'That's not my hand.'

'Then get your foot out of my face!'

Standing back from the edge of the pit, Zoe sighed, 'they're okay.'

Still crouched by the edge of the pit, Jack studied the smooth, tunnel walls. They sloped steeply at first, but then curved into a much gentler slope. The fall wasn't designed to kill you, this wasn't a trap, it was an entrance way. A previously covered entrance way. The seal had probably been put in place to stop just anyone from falling into it. Why it had opened for Pooh and Stretch he had no idea currently, but something they had done had triggered the mechanism.

By his side, Zoe touched his shoulder. When Jack looked up he saw that she was clutching a long coil of rope by her side. Standing quickly, Jack took the rope from her, uncoiling it and tossing the end into the tunnel below them. Big Ears took the spare end from Jack and wrapped it around his wrists, ready to act as an anchor for the two to climb out.

'Okay, Pooh and Stretch,' Jack spoke into his radio, 'if you can see the rope, give it a tug.'

From somewhere far below them, the rope went taunt as someone gave it a pull, 'good. Now we're going to hold onto it from up here while the pair of you climb out.

'And if you could somehow manage to not argue on the way out, that would be much appreciated,' Fuzzy called down to them.

They were answered by silence, but the tautness of the rope indicated quite clearly that they were climbing. Zoe, who was still standing by the edge of the pit, nodded in approval as she saw Stretch come into view, closely followed by Pooh-Bear. The two had just begun the final climb out when there was a familiar grating rumble. The two sides of the stone slab had begun sliding back into place, much to the alarm of just about everybody.

'That's not good,' Big Ears grunted.

There was a loud boom as the two sides slammed together, sealing tightly. The force snapped the rope clean in two and it went slack. Despite his alarm, Jack managed to keep a straight face, more for the sake of his team than anything as he rapidly keyed his radio.

'Pooh, Stretch, can you hear me? Are the two of you okay?'

There was a delay, but eventually Pooh-Bear replied, 'we're all good Jack, just a little bruised from the second tumble down.'

'Stay where you are okay, I'm going to contact Wizard to see if there's any way we can get help down to you.'

…

Down in the inky black pit, Pooh fumbled blindly for his torch which had come loose from his helmet. More often than not his hands slipped across rock, until they impacted with something rubbery, which he instantly tried to get a grip on.

'That's my foot you idiot,' Stretch hissed from somewhere in the darkness, kicking his hands away.

'How was I to know that? I can't find my torch –' he was cut off as bright yellow torch light suddenly filled the area.

Stretch, with his flashlight still attached to his helmet, gazed around at the now semi- illuminated cavern. Using the available light, Pooh-Bear quickly scrambled to grab his own torch, which lay a few feet away to his right.

'Where are we?' he asked, looking around at the square room.

It wasn't a particularly large chamber. The ceiling was only three or four meters high and the room width was probably no more than that. All across the walls, half hidden by moss, were stone carvings of ghoulish figures and symbols. A few feet above them was the round entrance to the tunnel they had entered by, and directly opposite was another equally round tunnel, also a few feet off the ground.

While Pooh-Bear remained seated on the floor by the entrance tunnel, Stretch stood, cautiously peering into the tunnel on the opposite side of the room, 'this one goes straight on, perfectly flat. It doesn't appear very long either, probably ten meters.'

He turned back to Pooh-Bear, who hadn't moved. Clutching his flashlight in one hand, Pooh got to his feet, but didn't move from the entrance way, 'Jack said to wait until he had contacted Wizard. We stay here.'

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, Pooh-Bear standing at one end waiting rather impatiently for the radio, Stretch leaning against the opposite wall in his usual world weary manner. The thick silence was only broken several minutes later by the squawk of a radio.

'_Pooh, you still there?'_

'Right here Jack. We haven't moved. What's the story?'

There was a slight pause before Jack spoke again, _'we can't get you out of there the way you went in buddy. The doors are on some kind of mechanism, they won't open again until the system has been reset.'_

'How do we reset the system?' Stretch asked, materialising beside Pooh-Bear, making him jump.

'_By opening the exit door. The system won't reset until the two of you make it to the end doorway.'_

Off to the side, Pooh-Bear commented softly, 'what's the catch?'

Jack continued, evidently not hearing Pooh-Bear, '_According to Wizards notes the two of you are going to have to make it through some kind of trap system. I don't know what kind; there aren't any details on that. All I know is the only way to get out is to successfully get through. The rest of us will meet you at the exit doors. You two are on your own for this one.' _


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey people! I'm back with chapter 2! **

**Apologies for the serious delay (of several months). I kind of reached a stage of writers block where I didn't know how to design the trap system which the two of them face. Then it literally just hit me out of the blue, and I finished the chapter in something like two hours. **

**So, thank you for those who reviewed on the last chapter. Hopefully this one is just as enjoyable. **

**:) Ally **

**Lower cavern, 1345 local time**

The silence down in the lower chamber of the trap system was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife. Both Pooh-Bear and Stretch seemed a little stunned by Jack's proposition. They would have to navigate an uncharted trap system, with no outside aid, no idea about what they were in store for. And worst of all, they would have to do it together.

'Ah, Jack,' Stretch started.

'_I know, it's not ideal. But it's the only option you have. We'll be on standby to offer information for you if you need it.'_

'Fantastic,' Stretch muttered.

'_One thing you should know,' _Jack sounded crackly over the speakers, _'This system is designed to be conquered as a team. From what Wizard has been saying, these traps often rely on having two people to get past them.'_

Pooh and Stretch exchanged looks, neither happy with that idea. But they stayed silent and continued to listen.

'_Look, if Wizard is correct, and he usually is, this system isn't designed to kill you. Just test you. Just follow the instructions and please, try not to kill each other. We'll meet you at the other side.'_

Then he was gone, the radio cutting off. For a long moment, both Stretch and Pooh-Bear gazed at each other before Pooh-Bear sighed in resignation.

'Very well, let's get through this system,' he sounded less than thrilled at the prospect.

Together they approached the circular tunnel on the opposite wall and peered through it. Aside from the generic moss covered carvings on the walls, there was nothing specific which could be linked to the tunnel. Shining his torch through, Pooh saw that the walls were completely smooth, with no ominous holes or potential traps. By his side, Stretch seemed more focused on the dark chamber beyond the tunnel, the light of his torch being swallowed by the blackness beyond.

'What's that sound?' Pooh asked, listening to the quiet _ssshhhh_ coming from the other end of the tunnel.

'Sounds like running water,' Stretch tilted his head to one side, frowning, 'come on Arab.'

Sliding into the tunnel, Stretch crawled cautiously through, guided by the light of his torch. Waiting a few moments, Pooh climbed into the tunnel after him, and also crawled through, hands slipping in the soft, squishy moss which coated the walls of the tunnel.

**Upper system, 1405 local time**

After circling around the now sealed pit several more times to see if there was any way to open it, Jack eventually turned back to the remainder of his team. They were all hanging back from the pit cautiously, Big Ears still clutching the severed rope.

'We have to move on. I'm sure they'll figure it out, we just have to get the tablets then meet them at the exit door.'

Zoe seemed a little more hesitant, 'but Jack-'

'We can't help them anyway Zoe, The purpose of this trap system is to test the participants without any input from external sources. They're on their own.'

'They could die,' Noddy seemed unsure as well.

With a small smile, Jack just shook his head, 'if they do it right, this system should pose no danger to them. It's a test, not a death trap. If they work together then…'

He trailed off when he saw the looks that the others were giving him. It was Fuzzy who stated what they were all obviously thinking, 'This is Pooh and Stretch we're talking about. They'll kill each other before they work together on anything.'

Silence filled the chamber as everyone retreated into thought. Eventually Jack spoke, softly but determinedly, 'then I guess we can just hope that for this they can get it together long enough to get through alive.'

**The Water Chamber, lower cavern, 1410 local time**

The cavern beyond the tunnel was breathtaking. It was big, at least as wide as a football field and twice as long. Most oddly, it had no floor, just a churning whirlpool of water which flowed from under a grill of some kind on the well where their tunnel emerged. The water flowed to the far wall, where it frothed against a second grill, a grill which was decorated with hundreds of cruel iron spikes. The long walls of the cavern were smooth, no hand grips of any kind near the water line. If you fell in, you weren't getting out again, and would undoubtedly be swept against the far wall to be impaled on the spikes.

Both Stretch and Pooh-Bear remained crouched in their tunnel, gazing out at the sight, assessing their new predicament. Directly opposite them, on the far wall was a second cylindrical tunnel, the exit from the water chamber.

'How do we cross this?' Pooh-Bear asked, staring down at the frothing, roaring water, 'we can't swim through that.'

'We don't have to, look,' Stretch jabbed a finger at a stone ledge on the long wall.

This ledge, Pooh-Bear saw, was primarily comprised of stepping stones, each one placed at an even four foot distance across the wall. They ran from their current tunnel, to the far one. Ominously, above every second stepping stone was a large, circular hole. Water dribbled from a few of the holes and green algae coated the wall beneath them.

'Come on, that must be the way across,' Stretch didn't look at Pooh, he just slid from the tunnel onto the narrow ledge which ran from the tunnel exit to the wall with the stepping stones.

Pooh didn't follow straight away, instead, he glanced over at the opposite wall, and saw an identical stepping stone pathway. Exactly like the first, it was also comprised of evenly spaced stepping stones, and the wall hole placed above every second stone.

'Israeli, there is a second,' he pointed it out.

Barely glancing at it, Stretch shrugged, 'perhaps to encourage a race between parties? It doesn't matter, they're both the same.'

'It may be important.'

'Or it may be there to waste our time. Hurry up Arab, I don't intend to be stuck down here with you longer than I have to be,' Stretch stepped out onto the first stepping stone.

It sunk an inch or so as soon as he put his weight on it, but nothing happened. Hesitantly, still looking over at the second walkway, Pooh got ready to follow.

Seeing as nothing had happened on the first stepping stone, Stretch shrugged slightly, then jumped lightly onto the second one, gesturing for Pooh to follow straight after him. The second Stretch's boots hit the stone, there was a rushing sound, and a blast of frothing water sprayed from the wall hole. The sudden surge knocked Stretch off his feet and sent him tumbling towards the churning pool below.

Pooh reacted faster though, leaping onto the first stone and snagging Stretch's wrist, arresting his fall. Hanging from Pooh's hand, Stretch looked down at the foaming river below, his feet scrambling for purchase against the wet stone, his free hand gripping at the edge of the stepping stone by Pooh's feet. The torch on his helmet was knocked loose by the sudden jolt and it went tumbling down into the water, disappearing into the foam with a small splash.

'Oh shit,' Stretch breathed, still looking down.

With a grunt, Pooh hauled Stretch up onto the stepping stone beside him. The water had stopped pouring from the wall hole by then, replaced by the original, languid trickle. Shaking his head, Pooh looked down at his Israeli companion, who had removed his helmet to empty out the water. Although he looked outwardly calm, Pooh didn't need to be an expert on human behaviour to see his hands were shaking just slightly.

'I think that has proven that we cannot simply walk across this chamber,' Pooh said.

Stretch said nothing, just kept his eyes firmly locked on his helmet. Pausing for a second, Pooh continued, 'there has to be a way. Jack told us that this system is to tackled as a team. Which means that it relies on both of us filing in a part to get through.'

Stretch still said nothing, but he looked up, narrowing his eyes as he gazed over at the second walk way. Following his gaze, Pooh saw that he was looking at the first stepping stone on that side.

'What?'

'Shut up, I'm thinking,' Stretch muttered.

'Did you not hear what I said about teamwork? Share your thoughts Israeli,' Pooh-Bear growled in annoyance.

Pausing for a second as he slowly climbed to his feet, clipping on his helmet once again, Stretch eventually pointed to the second walk way, 'I think you need to go over there.'

'What?'

'You said that both of us will have a part to fill to get across. Go over there and step on the first stepping stone. I have a theory.'

Pooh frowned deeply, and didn't move. With an exasperated growl, Stretch pushed past him and made his way across the chamber to the second walk way. There, he stepped out onto the first stone. Once again, it sank an inch when he put his weight on it.

'Try and cross the second stone now,' he called to over to Pooh-Bear.

Deepening his frown further, Pooh shook his head. With Stretch over on the other side of the room, the blast of water from the wall hole would knock him into the churning rapids below. Internally he wondered if this was what Stretch wanted; did the Israeli dislike him so much that he was willing to let him die right now in this forsaken trap system?

'You do recall that this system needs both of us,' he called over.

Stretch raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to rebuke him. Instead, he made a gesture for Pooh to stay where he was on the first stepping stone on his side. Then, before Pooh could say anything to stop him, he stepped onto the second stepping stone, directly opposite the deadly wall hole. Only this time, there was no gush of water, no deadly jet designed to knock the contestant off the walkway. Instead, Stretch just stepped calmly from the second stone to the third without breaking his stride.

'How…?' Pooh wondered aloud.

'Now you pass yours,' Stretch beckoned him to move.

Far from trusting the Israeli, Pooh took a deep breath, steeled himself, and stepped onto the second stone. He waited for the rush of water to come and knock him to his death. But there was none. The faint trickle didn't even pause, and he was able to step calmly, and still alive, onto the third. He noticed that as soon as he placed his weight on it, the stone sunk a few inches. And this time, above the sound of the churning rapid, he heard a distinct stone thunk, as if a mechanism had been activated somewhere on the opposite wall.

Glancing over at Stretch, Pooh saw that he had a distinctly smug look on his face, as if laughing that Pooh had had the audacity not to trust him. If Pooh hadn't been standing on the opposite side of the cavern, he probably would have hit him just to get rid of the smug grin.

'Alright Israeli, explain,' he called.

'The stones trigger a mechanism, blocking the water flow,' Stretch called back, 'while you are standing on that one, my wall hole is blocked, meaning I can pass safely. And when I stand on the next one, you can pass yours.'

'Seems too easy.'

'Perhaps it is a warm up?' Stretch shrugged, 'but right now Arab, I think we should focus on getting past this cavern. You can theorise later.'

Not waiting for Pooh to respond, Stretch jumped onto the stone in front of the second wall hole, then onto the next stone in the sequence. And so it continued, one of them would stand on the trigger stone while the other passed their wall hole, then they would switch, leaping across the stones, a few feet above the deadly rapids.

By the time they reached the far wall, Pooh-Bear was panting, out of breath from the constant jumping. For his part, Stretch didn't seem fazed, landing lightly on the ledge by the entrance to the tunnel.

They both crawled into the mossy tunnel, deeming it to be the safest place in the cavern. Once he had his breath back, Pooh unclipped his radio from his belt and dialled in Jack's number. There was a pause, then Jack answered, sounding concerned.

'_Pooh, Stretch, are you both okay?_'

'We're fine Huntsman. We have made it through the first trap system,' Pooh said, watching from the corner of his eye as Stretch wrung out his still soaking wet jacket.

_'__Good. You figured it out. Have you seen the next one yet?_'

'Not yet, we're just catching our breath after that one.'

'Speak for yourself Arab.'

'Shut it Israeli.'

'_Okay you two, good job on getting past the first. Let us know when you get past the second. We're just making our way through our own trap systems so we can get the tablets, so we may be out of contact for a while. Good luck. Huntsman, out.'_

The radio cut out and Pooh put it away, clipping it back to his belt. The thick silence in the tunnel grew, only broken by the roaring of the water from the previous chamber. The next chamber was ominously silent, dark, and beyond the tunnel there was no movement in the empty blackness.

Slowly and cautiously, the pair slid through the tunnel until they could see out into the black pit. Because that was what it was. The tunnel simply opened out into a great black, empty, yawning pit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, this chapter certainly came out faster than the last one. Hope you guys enjoy!**

**The Rope Web, Lower Cavern, 1415 local time**

Sticking his head out of the tunnel, Pooh-Bear gazed at the immense pit in awe. The light of their single torch did little to illuminate the blackness, the thin beam of yellow light simply being swallowed up a few feet from the tunnel.

Crouched beside him, Stretch cracked a glow stick, then dropped it over the precipice. It sailed down into the blackness, down and down and down, the greenish glow getting smaller and smaller, until at last... thunk.

The slight glow illuminated what appeared to be a plain stone floor, perfectly smooth and glistening with moisture. Pooh-Bear frowned, that was a long drop, far enough to kill. Shining his torch down, he looked for a clue, a ladder, a path, something that would get them to the bottom of the pit.

'Israeli, do you see anything? I can't seem to find a way down.'

'I don't think we're supposed to go down.'

Pooh turned back to him, and saw that he was holding an old, slimy rope in his hands. The rope snaked out from the tunnel entrance, up to the ceiling where it was attached to what appeared to by a rudimentary pulley system. The other end of the rope hung down into the pit, swinging aimlessly.

Then Pooh saw the web. A giant web of thick ropes stretched out across the cavern, starting a few feet above their tunnel entrance. Twisted into a complicated pathway, the web ran from their tunnel to the other side, attached to all four walls by thick metal pins.

'So, we're supposed to crawl across that?' Stretch tilted his head slightly, frowning.

'I am not sure. Perhaps this time it would be a good idea to exercise caution as we try to figure it out.'

'What is that supposed to mean?' Stretch's voice lowered into a slight growl, picking up on the implication quickly.

'It means that your rashness almost got us both killed in the last test,' Pooh-Bear shot him a sideways glare.

It was hard to miss the tightening of Stretch's jaw and the dangerous flash in his eyes, 'I am not rash.'

'No? Alright then, your arrogance almost got us both killed.'

Expecting him to retaliate, Pooh-Bear was surprised as hell when Stretch just retreated into a stony silence, looking decidedly pissed off. When at last he did speak again, it was in a frosty, measured tone.

'Very well Arab, perhaps you should figure this one out yourself,' cracking another glow stick he turned away to examine a series of carvings on the walls.

Grinding his teeth in annoyance, Pooh-Bear was tempted to argue, but he resolved to leave it for when they were outside. As loathed as he was to admit it, he needed the Israeli, and he needed him to be at least half way cooperative. Arguments could wait for later.

Turning his torch upwards, he began to examine the rope web. The rope which hung out from their tunnel had to have some significance, as did the two small stone platforms which he could see. Each platform was a few feet wide, jutting out from just beside the tunnel entrances. Curiously enough the stone that they were made out of wasn't polished smooth like everything else, it was rough and riddled with bumps and raised lips. His eyes travelled back to the rope which hung from the ceiling. It was long, long enough to reach from one side to the other, and it was threaded through a series of hooks on the ceiling. It looked as though it was designed to hold something … or someone, up.

An idea began to form in his mind, a somewhat crazy idea that somehow still made quite a bit of sense. He glanced over at Stretch, who was still examining the carvings. He had brushed away a large chunk of moss and slime so he could see the pictures and the letter like figures.

'Can you read it?' Pooh-Bear asked.

'No, Swahili is one of the languages which I don't know,' Stretch muttered distractedly, scrubbing away another section of moss with his filthy sleeve, 'can I borrow your camera? Mine's waterlogged.'

Fishing it out from a jacket pocket, Pooh handed it over, then watched as Stretch photographed the images and sent them up to Wizard on the surface. Curiosity getting the better of him, Pooh had to ask, 'Why are you doing that? It may not be important.'

There was no reply; Stretch just thrust his camera back into his hands and went back to scrubbing at the wall, revealing more and more of the ornate pictures. It was too dim to make them out clearly, and they had faded so much over the years that most just looked like clusters of lines.

A few minutes later, Pooh's radio pinged and Wizards voice crackled over, '_I just ran those images through my database, and I've come up with a translation for you. Are you boys stuck at the next test_?'

'Yes we are. It's a little complicated,' Pooh replied, 'does the translation give any help?'

'_I'm not sure. It's a little odd, but maybe it will make sense to you. Roughly, it translates to, "To find the pathway through the snare, place your lifeline in another's hands. The first to go must seek the way, the second must trust they will not be led astray". It doesn't make much sense to me_."

Gazing out at the pit, Pooh couldn't help but smile, 'Don't worry Wizard. I understand it. Thank you.'

The radio cut out and at once Pooh-Bear took hold of the loose end of the rope and gave it a sharp tug, 'Israeli, see if you can catch that other end when it swings over.'

Stretch did just that, leaning precariously out over the edge of the chasm so he could snatch the rope as it swung back towards them. When Stretch had hold of the second end, Pooh-Bear quickly and expertly looped the side that he was holding under his own arms and around his chest. Crouched a few feet away, Stretch looked confused.

'What are you doing Arab?' he asked as Pooh tied off the rope.

'Following the instructions,' Pooh explained, 'they said to put your lifeline into another's hands.'

'I heard that part. Still doesn't explain what you're doing though.'

Pointing to the ledge just beside their tunnel, then up at the ropes, Pooh-Bear explained his hypothesis, 'the rope that we have now is the life line. We tie ourselves to either end then, as one of us goes out across the web, the others stays on the ledge and acts as a spotter, a way to keep the other balanced.'

There was a slight doubtful flicker in Stretch's gaze as he eyed Pooh-Bears much larger, heavier bulk. Pooh continued to explain, 'My guess is that some of those ropes are designed to break or slacken when crossed, so there is only one safe route across. The person who goes out first must use trial and error to find the route, then they verbally guide the second.'

'And if the first person guesses wrong and they fall?'

'Then the one standing here has to arrest their fall,' Pooh said without hesitation, 'this is a trust exercise of sorts. I will trust you to hold me up, then you will trust me to guide you across.'

'Why do I have to hold you up?'

'Because I have the only working flashlight,' Pooh-Bear pointed to his helmet, 'So I will go first.'

Surprisingly Stretch didn't argue with that, he just shrugged, 'if you're sure.'

Pooh-Bear wasn't, but he was hardly going to admit that. As Stretch looped the rope around his own body and climbed down onto the ledge, Pooh-Bear eyed the handholds which would allow him to climb the few feet up to the rope system, then he looked down at the floor and the stomach churning drop.

'Are you ready Israeli?'

'Are you?'

Carefully, Pooh clambered up the side of the rock wall, then pulled himself up onto the thick rope web. The ropes wobbled beneath his feet, rocking back and forth under his shaking legs. Gripping the wall for as long as he could, Pooh shuffled out over the rope, moving sideways so the arches of his feet were balancing over the slightly damp surface. A few steps out he had to release his grip on the wall and for a single terrifying moment he was balancing seemingly without aid over the void, the world rocking violently underneath him. Then he grabbed hold of the rope which he hung from and held tight, stabilising himself slightly.

From his position on the ledge, Stretch grunted, 'you know, you could really stand to loose a few pounds.'

Pooh decided it was best not to reply, so he just kept shuffling along the section of rope, eyeing the upcoming decision point, already trying to see if he could spot an obvious weakness. Thankfully on the first one, the knot on one of the cords was obviously loosened, so he simply took the other option, tottering along in the direction of the left wall. At the next decision point he tested with his foot, putting his weight down on each of the ropes in turn to find the one which didn't break off as soon as he got close.

All the while he refused to look down past the ropes, he didn't want to see the faint green light from the glow stick several stories below him. He just kept the beam of light from his torch solidly fixed on the rope beneath his feet, occasionally glancing up to see where in the cavern he was.

The path which he followed was a complex one, winding back and forth, sometimes doubling back, sometimes going straight on for period of time with so junctions. But Pooh followed it faithfully, refusing to be sidetracked or led astray.

He had probably made it halfway across the room when he made his first big mistake. After testing the ropes on one of the junctions, he had been left with two possible options. Pausing, he frowned, looking between the two. That wasn't right, there was only supposed to be one option he thought, peering closer.

Behind him, Stretch called out, 'Seriously Arab? Could you move any slower?'

Shooting a glare back in his direction, Pooh looked between the two, then made up his mind. Stepping out onto one of them, he shuffled out cautiously. When it held, he released the breath he had been holding and took another step.

Only for the rope to snap underneath him.

With a cry of shock, Pooh felt the rope go slack then fall away and, with a terrible sense of helplessness he found himself falling, down into the black void.

Then the rope under his arms went taut, arresting his fall with a such a sudden and ferocious jerk that the wind was squeezed from his lungs in a painful wheeze. Gasping in deep, hoarse breaths, Pooh swung from the rope, his heart pounding, his ribs and shoulders aching. He gripped his lifeline with white knuckled hands as he stared down at the far off floor.

'Pooh-Bear… you okay…'

Somewhere above him, Stretch called down, voice sounding slightly strained. Glancing up, Pooh could just see his companion braced on the platform, every muscle in his body evidently straining with the weight on the rope. Judging by how close he was to the edge, the sudden fall had almost pulled him over as well.

'I am alright Israeli,' he called back up.

'Then could you get a move on? I can't hold your fat ass up forever.'

'Right, sorry,' Pooh gripped the rope a little tighter and began to climb back up.

It took him a while, be he managed to get a grip on the web, and haul himself up. As he did he felt the rope around his chest go slack. Looking back he saw Stretch back away from the edge of the platform, rolling his shoulders. Catching Pooh's eye, he quickly snatched up the rope again, pulling it tight, jerking his chin in an indication for Pooh to get a move on.

There were a few more close calls along the way, as they both began to tire, but eventually Pooh was clambering down the hand holes on the opposite wall, sinking down onto the platform in relief. Closing his eyes to recover his breath, Pooh gingerly touched the bruising around his chest, wincing slightly. Nothing was broken thankfully, but that didn't stop the pain.

Eventually he climbed to his feet, and gave the rope a tug, 'alright Israeli, are you ready?'

'As ready as I'll ever be,' Stretch was already climbing the hand rungs on his side.

'Just take it slow, you don't have a torch so it will be tough to see-'

'I know, I know. Just make sure you don't forget the right way,' seemingly unfazed by the height, Stretch slid out onto rope.

As it turned out, it was harder to guide him across than Pooh had originally thought. In the darkness of the cavern, with only his torch for light, it was challenging enough just to see the rope path, let alone give accurate instructions the whole time. For his part, Stretch seemed to be taking everything Pooh-Bear said with a grain of salt, checking the ropes himself before he stepped out onto them.

'How you holding up out there Israeli?'

'How do you think? I can't see a fucking thing out here,' Stretch snapped from somewhere in the darkness.

'Just keep moving forward.'

'Oh that's _really_ helpful asshole.'

Pooh just rolled his eyes as he adjusted his grip on the rope, pulling it a little tighter, 'it's the middle rope here. No, the middle, the one next to that one. Yes, that one.'

He was sure that Stretch muttered something in response, but whatever it was, Pooh decided to ignore it. He didn't think that it had been in English anyway.

When at last Stretch had made it to the other side, they both unwound the rope under their arms and let it swing out into the void, Pooh watching in slight satisfaction. Next to him on the platform, Stretch sank down, breathing heavily and massaging one of his shoulders. For a long period there was complete silence as they sat in the semi-darkness, gazing out at the complex rope web and at the tunnel on the other end of the cavern.

Two down, Allah knew how many to go, Pooh thought to himself. But at least they were making some sort of progress, however slow it was. Considering that he had thought they would be dead by the first, they were actually doing quite well.

'Well, that wasn't so bad,' he said after he had his breath back.

'Oh fuck off.'


End file.
